Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Tamales: Holiday Food lore

The world of food lore is
filled with beliefs and traditions concerning what to eat when and how. During
the Christmas season, one of the most common Hispanic dishes is tamales. Made from masa
(Spanishdough made from corn) they
come in different flavors and can be made different ways.

The earliest recorded
mention of the tamale was 5000 BC in
the Pre-Columbian history. Women were taken into battle as army cooks to make
the masa for the tortillas but the demand for preparing the meal became too
overwhelming of a process. A more portable food item was needed. Hence, the tamale. It could be made in advance and put
directly on top of the coals to be warmed.

Even though there no one
knows for sure which Pre-Columbian culture initially created this now popular
food item, it quickly found its way into many cultures. People adapted the tamale ingredients to fit their
geographics. That’s why some are made with red, green and/or black chili while
others were made with fish or rabbit. There were also pineapple, cinnamon and
berry tamales. Outer wrappings also
reflected the terrain and so included cornhusks, banana leaves, avocado leaves
and more.

Still a food item that
takes time to make, tamales are a
much-sought after holiday food. Made in advance they can be cooked dozens at a
time and the sauces poured over them are as creative as the cooks want them to
be. Meat sauces and sweet sauces alike reflect cultural diversity.

According
to Lonely Planet, “no one is entirely certain how tamales came to
be associated with Christmas, but the general explanation is this: no one wants
to go through the effort of making them more than once, so you might as well do
it for the biggest meal of the year. Tamales also fulfill an important
Christmas food function: they make your house smell incredible.”

Personally I think it's because, like any other holiday gift, they are supposed to be unwrapped (opened) so that the delicious contents can be enjoyed.